Cheres - Kashering

QUESTION: I accidentally poured hot meat soup into a dairy ceramic bowl. How should this be kashered?

ANSWER: The halacha is that ceramic clay (cheres) cannot be kashered with hagalah (immersion in boiling water). The Gemara (Avoda Zara 34a) states that “the Torah testifies about ceramic utensils” that once they absorb there is no way to kasher them. Shulchan Aruch (OC 451:1) adds that even if the ceramic utensil was not placed on the fire, and the hot food was only poured into it, it cannot be kashered. Although ceramic utensils cannot be kashered with hagalah, there is a special way to kasher them: by placing them back into a potter’s kiln. Tosfos (Avoda Zara 34a s.v. She’aino) explains that this is not a contradiction to the rule that ceramic cannot be kashered, since by placing the ceramic back into the kiln, it is as if it becomes a brand-new utensil. Practically speaking, since it is not realistic to re-kiln the bowl, it should be thrown away.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.